MLPA News and Events

Clams, Mussels, Seaweed, Smelt- Oh My!

Submitted by: Suntayea Steinruck, NAGPRA/THPO Officer

What is MLPA?

Submitted by: Suntayea Steinruck, NAGPRA/THPO Officer

Right now the Tribe, Tribal Council and staff, have been working diligently on a fairly new state law that is being implemented in the State of California on the protection of marine life. This law is called the Marine Life Protective Act (MLPA). The MLPA will be regulated through the CA Department of Fish and Game (DFG) and is currently being funded through the Legacy Foundation. The Foundation has created the MLPA Initiative and within this group they have staff doing community outreach. Some of these outreach efforts came to Del Norte County and on October 28th they hosted a community-public meeting at the County’s Board of Supervisors Office chambers. The community came together to voice concerns on the impacts such regulations would have on the economy and our local core values. The uses include commercial, recreational and traditional/cultural activities. The major concern of the Tribe is in the MLPA statute it does not address traditional/cultural activities and does not recognize our rights to harvest and gather marine life separate from commercial or recreational. We are working on addressing this flaw in the master plan of the statute. Our rights as native people and a sovereign nation are unique and we should be considered as such.

The focus of the MLPA is to create marine protected areas (MPAs) along the entire California coastline. The purpose of the MLPA is to assist with the depletion of some marine life species. These species have not yet been identified to the Tribe as the scientific data for our Region has yet to be released. MPAs are within the state jurisdiction of mean high tide out 3 nautical miles. There are three (3) different categories of these MPAs and ranges in protection levels. The first being a state marine reserve (SMR). In a SMR it is illegal to extract any kind of marine life, including fish and kelp. The second designation area is called a state marine park (SMP). In the SMP areas some recreational activities will be allowed but will prohibit all commercial uses within this section of the shoreline. And the third area is called a state marine conservation area (SMCA). Within the SMCA areas they will allow some limited commercial and recreational activities. The unfortunate stipulation in the law is that an entire coast cannot be listed a SMCA. Within our North Coast Study Region there has to be a combination of all three types of MPAs. The Tribe is working with Del Norte County in coming up with an external array (proposal) that will reflect our areas of interest. We will continue to advocate for our rights to sustenance gathering and harvesting of traditional foods and the preservation of our people to continue these practices as part of our cultural identity.

If you are interested in assisting us with this process or would like to add input please contact Suntayea